


Eclipsed

by thepsychicclam



Category: Psych
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-03
Updated: 2011-08-03
Packaged: 2017-10-22 04:10:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/233599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepsychicclam/pseuds/thepsychicclam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Realization slowly dawns on Shawn, all at random moments. Written for the <span><a href="http://1sentence.livejournal.com/profile"><img/></a><a href="http://1sentence.livejournal.com/"><b>1sentence</b></a></span> prompt challenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eclipsed

_Ring_  
The phone vibrated against his leg; he reached inside his pocket and saw the unmistakable “J” - _Juliet_ \- and the half-eaten pineapple split just didn’t seem so awesomely good and gooey anymore.

 _Hero_  
Shawn never wanted to be a Big Damn Hero – pretty much the exact opposite, because in his experience, making trouble was a lot more fun than saving the day and all that BS – but sometimes he caught a glint, a trace of _something_ in Juliet’s face when someone did something heroic (pulling a gun, bursting in on a criminal, cuffing and booking) and for just a split second, Shawn wished he was a hero, because face it – fake psychic mojo might close cases, but he didn’t harbor any misguided notions that he was anything but a fake (and most of the time, that was enough).

 _Memory_  
The first girl he kissed was underneath the wooden fort on the playground in the 5th grade, a short, chubby girl whose name he can’t remember with blonde curls (maybe there was a pattern…he liked blondes?) and a never-ending supply of gummy worms; she gave him an orange gummy worm, kissed him, then punched him and ran away.

 _Box_  
Shawn grouped people into little boxes of information inside his head – Gus: best friend, uptight, white sneakers, threw up on the bus in 2nd grade; Lassie: ex-wife issues, bad hair, in-need-of-new-tie, likes to shoot things, hates to be called Binky; and Juliet – likes cats, loves Christmas and her family and pink and blueberry smoothies and working out to the Spice Girls and is a frighteningly good roller skater and likes to flip her hair out of her face when she’s irritated and a lot more things Shawn’s pointedly ignored and refused to put into the box because really, Shawn doesn’t miss much (especially about her).

 _Run_  
“I can’t,” he wheezed, stopping and bending over to catch his breath as Juliet ran back to him, half-smiles and all-annoyed, and then he said, “How in the hell can you run in those heels?” and she just rolled her eyes and winked, then ran after Lassiter leaving Shawn panting in his sneakers, and he yelled, “You’re a beast! A BEAST, Jules!” to her disappearing back.

 _Hurricane_  
“A hurricane,” Juliet said after looking at the bar menu, then spun around on the barstool, Gus to her right hitting on some woman, Lassiter beside Gus looking surly and out of place, and after three hurricanes, Shawn learned that Juliet couldn’t hold her liquor, but the longer she leaned into him, her head brushing his shoulder and her hand resting on his thigh, he realized he liked that about her.

 _Wings_  
“Not a word to Lassiter or the Chief,” Juliet said as she slid the file over to Shawn surreptitiously, “You never saw the file, or the pictures, or anything,” she continued, turning her back on him, and after glancing over it, he left it on her desk and walked out, shouting, “You’re the wind beneath my wings, Jules!” to her as he left, which left Lassie rolling his eyes and Juliet blushing.

 _Cold_  
“It’s cold,” Juliet said, rubbing her hands together, “it’s never cold in Santa Barbara…I don’t like cold places,” she continued, and Shawn unzipped his hoodie, shrugged it off, and handed it to her without a word.

 _Red_  
“Maroon!” Shawn shouted, “Island berry, fizzy melon, grape…no, strawberry, cherry, watermelon, fruit punch,” he finished, dropping a bag of red Starburst on Juliet’s desk, but before she could ask, he said, “As I was picking out bagel bites the spirit world told me to buy you a bag of red Starburst,” instead of telling her he had actually watched her eat at least five packs of Starburst since they started working together, always leaving the lemon and orange and eating the strawberry and cherry.

 _Drink_  
Too many drinks alone in his apartment – whiskey, a touch of Coke – and he decided he wanted to call her, hear her voice, have her come over and see her hair fan out across his arm as he fell asleep, but instead, he watched _the Golden Girls_ and fell asleep.

 _Midnight_  
Shawn had been sitting in the back of Lassie’s car too long, and the suspect they were surveying hadn’t done _anything_ , and it was way past time for a midnight snack, so Shawn pulled out a bag of chips and as Lassie shouted, “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Spencer?” he offered one to Juliet.

 _Temptation_  
Shawn was faced with temptation way too often – when they worked late on a case, when she made an obscure 80s reference, when she stretched and rubbed her neck when she was tired – and each time he faced it, it was harder and harder to resist kissing her.

 _View_  
“What did you want me to see that was so urgent?” Juliet asked as she climbed off the ladder onto the top of the Psych office, hair thrown into a messy ponytail, wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and Shawn handed her a juicebox and a box of Junior Mints and led her to the edge of the roof, the sun starting to sink beneath the ocean’s horizon.

 _Music_  
Shawn noticed that when Juliet thought no one was listening, she would sing – all kinds of bad songs from _Disney_ movies to Celine Dion and Hole – and off-key, and though he’d never admit it, something was vaguely disturbing and all kinds of hot about a chick singing the Spice Girls while cleaning her sidearm.

 _Silk_  
Shawn never paid much attention to clothes (although hair was a totally different story), but the day Juliet showed up on the scene with a snug fitting silk shirt, he couldn’t help but notice the way it hugged her body and showed off curves he’d always pretended not to see.

 _Cover_  
“Take cover!” Lassiter yelled, and the next thing Shawn knew, he was lying on top of Juliet; he looked at her, the same look of surprise he felt reflected in her face, his body hyperaware that she was _underneath_ him for god’s sake, and she laughed and said, “I thought I was supposed to be protecting you.”

 _Promise_  
Gus and Shawn had made a promise a long time back – “we will never fall in love with anyone the other person hates…or a robot” – and as Juliet and Gus had an arm wrestling match between their momentarily forgotten Chinese food and bouts of laughter, Shawn remembered that promise and smiled.

 _Dream_  
“And then I was being chased by this huge T-Rex in a helicopter,” Juliet continued, “and you and Gus showed up in a police car, and then you psychically told the T-Rex to land the helicopter in the Grand Canyon while Gus tapped dance,” she finished, laughing, “What do you think it means?” to which he responded, “You dreamed about me?” which made her blush.

 _Candle_  
“But I didn’t tell you when my birthday was,” Juliet exclaimed, shocked and pleased, as Shawn set a strawberry cupcake with pink icing and sprinkles in front of her; Shawn pointed to his head and said, “The spirits told me it was your birthday, and oddly enough your shoe size, and they also told me what you were going to wish for…I’m sorry, I can’t tonight, what about tomorrow?” he joked as she closed her eyes, then blew out the candle.

 _Talent_  
Shawn could make snow cones, operate the roller coasters at a theme park, train a dog to shake, lead a tour group around a state park, and even make a window dressing, but he knew these weren’t talents; out of all of the jobs he’s ever had, he’s never felt he found a talent at doing anything, and he knew that being observant wasn’t really a talent, just an annoying byproduct of his upbringing.

 _Silence_  
Gus could sit for hours in complete silence, doing crossword puzzles or Sudoku or something like that, but Shawn needed noise – music, TV, conversation, a soft din in the background – but when he sat in the station with Juliet late one night working on a case, a calm silence between them, he didn’t actually mind it so much.

 _Journey_  
“How can you not like them?” Juliet said, exasperated, “ _Don’t Stop Believing_ is only the best song in the world,” to which Shawn responded, “I highly doubt that,” and smiled; Juliet started singing the song, pumping her rock and roll fist, and when she hit the chorus, _strangers…waiting…up and down the boulevard…_ Gus joined her, and by the time they hit their stride, _don’t stop believin’…hold on to that feelin’…_ ” Shawn was belting it along with them, air guitar and all.

 _Fire_  
Shawn had seen plenty of dead bodies – and didn’t freak out as much as Gus did (most of the time) – but when they arrived at the scene of the burnt remains of a victim, Shawn had trouble pretending to hear spirits and flit around lightly; he stood there staring at the charred flesh, some bits still simmering with heat and flame, and as he uncharacteristically didn’t say a word, Juliet reached out and squeezed his arm lightly.

 _Strength_  
“Ridiculous,” Lassiter muttered, storming away further into the carnival, but Shawn stood there, holding the hammer and said, “Well, that just means he can’t beat me and my massive muscles,” and Gus rolled his eyes as Juliet grabbed the hammer and swung it, the meter soaring high and making a ding; Gus and Shawn stared at her in awe, then Gus said, “ _Damn_ girl,” as she handed Shawn back the hammer with a cock of her eyebrow and followed Lassiter.

 _Mask_  
Shawn was pretty much as he appeared – all jokes and lightheartedness and obscure 80s references – but sometimes he got tired of pretending to be psychic, even though he knew if he ever stopped, he’d lose the closest friends he’d ever had, so he continued, because he actually loved his job and everything about it (most of the time).

 _Ice_  
“Ooh, ice cream!” Shawn exclaimed, pulling Juliet into an ice cream shop, “my treat,” before she could protest, and then he said, “for you, strawberry sundae with caramel, nuts, extra whipped cream, and gummi bears,” and she stared at him, then said, “how did you know? I haven’t eaten gummi bears on my sundae in years,” and he just smiled a crooked smile.

 _Fall_  
As much as he tried to deny it, ignore it, make it go away, it was painfully clear that he had fallen completely in love with Juliet; she made him smile just thinking about her, nervous and comfortable around her at the same time, and even when he was with Abigail, he still dreamed of Juliet.

 _Forgotten_  
The phone vibrated against his leg, and Juliet asked, “Aren’t you going to get that,” and he looked at it - _Abigail_ \- and he slipped it back into his pocket, concentrating on the files he, Juliet, Lassiter, and Gus were looking over, and when Juliet found something and leaned close to him to show him – peaches and vanilla – he forgot all about his phone.

 _Dance_  
“Come dance with me, Jules,” Shawn said, a few celebratory beers in after a case, the bar loud and dark, Gus and Lassiter sharing hot wings and jalapeno poppers beside them, and when she hesitated, he said, “I know you can dance, I’ve seen you bust your crazy moves,” and when she still sat there, he did a bad imitation of the robot and cabbage patch, and she laughed and slowly got off her seat to join him.

 _Body_  
Shawn was used to Juliet in her normal clothes – shirts and blouses, jeans and t-shirts, dresses and sweaters – but when he saw her at the beach, pink one piece clinging to her body in ways he’d only imagined, he had to go jump in the ocean; that night, it was all he could think about.

 _Sacred_  
“Behold! The sacred pineapple!” Shawn declared as Juliet gave him a dubious glance, then he adjusted the bow on the top and said, “it’s a gift. The spirits told me you were low on pineappley goodness.”

 _Farewells_  
Shawn said farewells all the time – a guy who’d had more jobs than even _he_ remembered had known and forgotten a lot of people – but some people were permanent fixtures (his dad, Gus, Juliet, even Lassie); and when dating Abigail meant saying goodbye to Juliet (or at least the way things used to be), he wasn’t sure it was worth it in the end.

 _World_  
Halfway across the world (or, okay, in the Psych office), and he was alone, eating Doritos, and drinking some old liquor left in the cabinets, and while he knew he should be thinking about Abigail and wanting to call her, he stared at his phone and convinced himself why it would be a bad idea to call Juliet.

 _Formal_  
“Gus, Shawn,” she said, clipped and formal, all police woman and no warmth, and as she spun around on her heel, her blonde hair sweeping around her shoulders, Shawn felt like someone had punched him in the stomach.

 _Fever_  
A kiss on the couch, a string of clothes to the bed, fevered kisses as they dropped to the pillows, and as Shawn looked up at Abigail – beautiful, smiling, hair falling onto his chest, he realized he should be able to fall in love with her, and felt guilty because he couldn’t.

 _Laugh_  
Her laugh was the first thing he heard as he walked into the station – hints of Abigail still lingering on his skin – and he felt a lurch somewhere inside and wished like hell she didn’t know that he had ever tried to want anyone else.

 _Lies_  
The lies to himself became apparent the longer Abigail was in Ecuador, when he didn’t miss her that much, marked the return date on his calendar more out of habit, and with her out of the way, he let himself fall in love with Juliet all over again.

 _Forever_  
It would be forever before he could forgive himself if Juliet died – the image of her dead body a constant vision inside his mind he just couldn’t get rid of – but Gus, Lassie, they could save her, and he knew that if he didn’t save Abigail, Juliet would never forgive him, and he knew that would be worse than not forgiving himself.

 _Overwhelmed_  
A week overwhelmed with confusion – lucky no one died, sadness that Abigail was gone, relief that Abigail was gone, speechless that Juliet was okay (because how can you put into words something that felt a hundred times stronger than anything you’ve ever been thankful for?), and an urgent need to call her up, hear her voice, confirm she was okay, and tell her there had never been anyone other than her.

 _Whisper_  
“I’m sorry,” he whispered in her ear one night, walking to their cars after a long day, and she stopped, looked at him, face full of so much she was trying to compose, and finally she responded, “for what?” and he said, “Everything,” kissed her on her cheek, then left her standing there.

 _Wait_  
It was a few days before he tried to contact her (though he had almost called her countless times) because he wanted to run up to her and tell her he would never hurt her again, but for one time in his life, he wanted to be cautious, because if he screwed this up again, he was pretty sure there was no coming back from it.

 _Talk_  
She showed up at the Psych office one night – Gus quickly came up with a reason to leave – and she said, “Talk to me,” and he stared at her, at a loss for words once, and he just blurted out, “I love you,” before he realized it.

 _Search_  
He searched for a way out of this, a way to back up and make a joke, an obscure 80s reference (what would Judd Nelson do??), but she smiled, eyes a bit damp, and said, “What the hell took you so long?”

 _Hope_  
The look on her face reminded him of what an asshole he’d truly been, the look of someone timid because they’d been burned before, and he hated himself in that moment and resolved to never hurt her again, despite his many, many (many) shortcomings.

 _Eclipse_  
She took a step towards him and he was against her, her face between his hands and her lips against his, tasting of peaches and smelling of strawberries, and the moment eclipsed everything else – the ringing cell phone, the TV in the background, the case they were working on – and he gave into her.

 _Gravity_  
It wasn’t consciousness that went through the motions, but an automatic response, his body gravitating towards hers in an unpracticed rhythm that they both fell into naturally, even the few missteps (her elbow in his side, his head against her chin) seeming right.

 _Highway_  
By the time they hit the floor, he thought they might should have gone to his place, or even her place, but at that moment extracting himself from her, breaking any contact even briefly for the ride, seemed like the absolute worst idea ever.

 _Unknown_  
It felt awkward but comfortable at the same time – pulling off her shirt, sliding off her jeans, kissing her exposed skin, discovering all the unknown parts of her he’d always dreamed about.

 _Lock_  
“Is the door locked?” she asked suddenly, and he lifted his head, still feeling her on his mouth, and glanced at the door, her cheeks rosy, “What if Gus comes back?” and he laughed, crawled up her body and kissed her again.

 _Breathe_  
Their breath was slowing, Juliet curled against his side, in his arms, her skin damp next to his, and she lifted her head, hair slightly mussed and more beautiful than ever, looked down at him and said, “I love you, too, you know,” and he kissed her.  



End file.
